SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 8/19/2012 7:32:47 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm
115 PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm
115:9-18
Message
of the verses: We will continue to
look at Psalm 115 in Today’s SD. Dr.
Wiersbe wrote at the end of his introduction these words, “The psalm may have
been used at the dedication of the second temple (Ezra 6:16). It not only tells where the God of Israel is
but what kind of a God He is.”
Yesterday we looked at “The reigning God” and also “The Living God.”
The
Giving God (vv. 9-15): “9 O Israel,
trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron,
trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. 11 You who fear the LORD,
trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. 12 The LORD has been
mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will
bless the house of Aaron. 13 He will bless those who fear the LORD, The small
together with the great. 14 May the LORD give you increase, You and your
children. 15 May you be blessed of the LORD, Maker of heaven and earth.”
The returning remnant needed to be
assured that God was a giving God, a God who would cause their crops to grow
and that their number would increase.
They were indeed a needy people, and God would be their provider. When you read in the books of Ezra and
Nehemiah you will see that the returning remnant would have a revival and that
Ezra would stand out in the rain along with the people to listen to the Word of
God and to be reminded of the covenant that He had made with Israel, and this
would encourage them that God was a giving and caring God who would help them.
When we see the phrase that God is
the maker of heaven and earth we want to remember that this meant that He did
not want anyone to worship the heavens as some did, and this goes all the way
back to the book of Genesis when God mixed the languages because the people
were trying to build a tower that reached into the heavens on the plain of
Babel, which would become Babylon. What
they were building were Ziggurats which were towers that reached into the
heavens in order to chart the stars so that they would worship the
heavens. This is where astrology had its
roots, and it is a worship of the stars, or you could call it idol
worship. You can see the astrology
predictions in the news papers of most cities today.
The
God Who Deserves Our Praise (vv. 16-18):
“16 The heavens are the heavens of the LORD, But the earth He has given
to the sons of men. 17 The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor do any who go down
into silence; 18 But as for us, we will bless the LORD From this time forth and
forever. Praise the LORD!”
What does it mean to “bless the
Lord?” Dr. Wiersbe states “To ‘bless the
Lord’ means to ascribe all glory and praise to Him, to delight His heart with
our joyful and willing thanksgiving and obedience. (See 16:7; 26:12; 34:1
100:4; 103:1; 134:2.) We see the word
bless five times in verses 12-15 and as a people we could not live one day without
the blessings of God. I want to add the
following to this section about blessing the Lord (4/19/2019 9:54 AM). I have read a couple of years ago that when
we bless the Lord it is the same kind of things that are said at a funeral when
the eulogy is given, something is said about the person who has died that is
good about them, so when we bless the Lord we are praising Him for His goodness
to us.
We see that God made the earth and
then He gave it to men and to women in order to meet their needs and to give
them work to do, cooperating with Him in the development of His abundant
resources (See Genesis 2:8-25).
Dr. Wiersbe concludes the commentary
on this psalm with these words, “The people who worship dead idols are also
dead, but we are alive in Jesus Christ and ought to extol the Lord! After all, if we expect to praise Him
forevermore we had better start now and be ready when we see Him!”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I desire
to ascribe all glory and praise to God and to delight His heart with my joyful
and willing thanksgiving and obedience.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
To remain in the Vine in order to see what the Lord had planned for me
to accomplish for His glory.
Memory
verses for the week: 2Peter 1:8-11
8
For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you
neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ. 9 For he who lacks these
qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his
former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be
all the more diligent to make certain of His calling and choosing you; for as
long as you practice these things, you will never stumble, 11 for in this way
the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly
supplied to you.
8/19/2012
8:27:09 AM
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